Staff Backend Engineer

Staff Backend Engineer At-a-Glance Staff-level backend role at a high-growth AI software company transforming how enterprises test and ship softwareCore stack: Go and Java, with GCP, Kubernetes and Docker in production at scaleFully remote... open to candidates across Canada and the USA$180,000 CAD base salary, plus equity and comprehensive benefitsOwn the backend architecture... this is a genuine Staff-level position with real technical authority, not a glorified senior role About the Company Our client is a fast-growing AI software company that has built one of the most advanced agentic test automation platforms on the market. Their product is used by Fortune 500 enterprises to accelerate software delivery... replacing brittle manual test scripts with AI agents that learn, adapt and scale across complex enterprise stacks including Salesforce, Workday and modern web applications. The engineering culture is collaborative, remote-first and built around genuine ownership. This is a company where Staff Engineers are expected to shape the technical direction of the platform, not just execute tickets. The Role This is an architecture-level backend position reporting to the Engineering Manager, sitting at the heart of the platform team. You will take ownership of the core backend services that underpin the entire product... making decisions that directly affect reliability, performance and the experience of enterprise customers at scale. You will lead significant platform initiatives, drive architectural improvements and act as a technical anchor for the team... including mentoring engineers and raising the overall quality of the codebase. Cross-functional collaboration with DevOps, product and engineering is a core part of this role, not an afterthought. The right person for this role is someone who gets genuinely excited about distributed systems problems, takes pride in building things that hold up under enterprise-scale load, and wants to leave a visible mark on a product used by some of the world's largest companies. Key Responsibilities Own the backend architecture: drive improvements in system design, reliability and maintainability across the platformLead major platform initiatives from concept to delivery, including automated testing frameworks, data integration pipelines and new feature rolloutsDesign and build scalable, high-availability backend services in Go and Java that perform reliably at enterprise scaleBuild and maintain cloud-native infrastructure on GCP, using Docker and Kubernetes to scale with customer growthDrive observability across the stack: improve monitoring, alerting and incident response so customer-impacting issues are caught and resolved fastMentor engineers at all levels, sharing architectural thinking and raising the standard of backend work across the teamCollaborate cross-functionally with engineering, DevOps and product to improve the platform holistically... not just the backend in isolationContribute meaningfully to API design and performance tuning in a distributed systems environment where the stakes are high What You'll Need Essential: 10+ years of professional software engineering experience, with at least 5 years focused on backend developmentAdvanced proficiency in Go or Java... with a genuine deep understanding of distributed systems, not just surface-level exposureHands-on experience with cloud infrastructure, ideally GCP, and containerised environments using Docker and KubernetesSolid understanding of scalability, API design and performance tuning in production distributed systemsTrack record of leading significant technical projects end-to-end, with clear ownership and accountabilityMust be based in Canada or the USA with the right to work without sponsorship Desirable / Nice to Have: Experience with server-side JavaScript (Node.js) and event-driven architecture including pub/sub patternsBackground in software testing, test automation or QA tooling... you will understand the problem space immediately Why Apply? $180,000 CAD base salaryEquity opportunities... share in the upside of a company scaling fast in the AI spaceFully remote, with genuine flexibility and autonomy over how you do your best workComprehensive benefits package covering health, wellbeing and your financial futureReal technical authority... your architectural decisions will shape a platform used by Fortune 500 companiesA genuine Staff-level role with room to grow... not a ceiling, a launchpadMission that matters: helping engineering teams ship software faster, with confidence, using AI that actually works Next Steps If this sounds like your next move, get in touch with Luke at luke@ochopeople.com or connect with him directly on LinkedIn. Send over your CV and a brief note on your backend experience and we will take it from there.